Fresh off the heels of his best selling record to date, ‘Some Mad Hope,’ Matt Nathanson will be in Chicago this Thursday and Friday playing two shows at the House of Blues. His biggest hit yet, ‘Come On Get Higher’ is on radio rotations across the country. Nathanson plays Chicago nearly every tour and he took time out of his day Monday to speak with the Northern Star from his bunk in Des Moines.

Northern Star: Are you looking forward to returning to Chicago?

Matt Nathanson: I feel like I’ve played Chicago a thousand times and every time it’s pretty fantastic.

NS: How special is it playing two nights at the House of Blues?

MN: I’m psyched. We’ll just divide up songs and see if we can make the setlist’s as different as we can make them. Everyone thinks every House of Blues is the same, but House of Blues Chicago is kind of a jam. I know it wasn’t the first one, but it feels like the best one for sure, no joke. I played there with [John] Mayer and Howie [Day] years ago. I feel that was the beginning of finding my audience outside of my tiny groups of fans I used to play to, so it’s got a special place.

NS: You mentioned John Mayer and Howie Day, do you think they were some of the people who got you to where you are today?

MN: I feel like Howie and John, even though I had put out more records at the time, that hooking up with them was huge. Getting to tap into that audience was important.

NS: You brought back some older songs for this tour. How did you decide which ones to bring back?

MN: I guess I kind of pulled out the ones the band could do justice to. I’ve always liked throwing in weird, little, older acoustic songs. But it’s fun to play some song that I haven’t played in a long time that I can have the band play on. That’s been cool. There’s a bunch of older songs where it’s hard to muster the strength to want to play them, so those ones just get left behind. Like, you know, leave good enough alone. But it’s nice to revisit some stuff.

NS: If anyone has seen your shows, you play an good mix of old songs and new songs, as well as a bunch of covers and tease a lot of covers. Which is your favorite cover to play?

MN: It just depends. It’s always fun to do Springsteen songs or like Romeo and Juliet, like those singer songwriter songs. It’s fun though, to stretch out and play stupid hair metal and/or real metal. That stuff’s fun because I’ve always wanted to front a metal band. I always used to fake it and play karaoke.

NS: Earlier this year, you played an online concert where fans could ask questions and comment directly to the band. How was that experience? [Editor’s note: View the entire show by going to: http://www.youtube.com/mattnathansonlive]

MN: That was a [expletive deleted] blast. It was wild. The sound in that room was great. It was almost like the most perfect rehearsal, weird, cyber experience. I had no idea what to expect going in to it. It fired up my ADD a little bit. It was cool to be able to play a show and feel the crowd. It was sort of surreal. You were like feeling the crowd but there was no crowd. The band was able to get energy from what was going on.

NS: Was there an actual crowd in the room?

MN: Yeah, there was like 25 people there. It was sort of like shooting a porn, I’m assuming. I’ve never shot a porn, but I am thinking that, like, normal sex is pretty amazing and to be able have sort of weird [pause] sex [pause] with like a crew there…yeah it was just like, the best porn.

NS: What are your favorite songs to play live from the new album?

MN: The two that I’ve been digging a lot lately are ‘Falling Apart’ and ‘Still.’ I don’t know why. ‘Falling Apart’ has just been my favorite song since the record was finished. It just kind of has a lot of the stuff I like in songs. I don’t know why, it just kind of unfolds where I like songs to unfold. And ‘Still’ lately has been great because it’s fun to ride the groove and the bounce of the bass. So those have been the two that I’ve really been digging playing.

NS: Do you have any ideas or anything you’ve been working on for a new record in the future, or are you just concentrating on the tour?

MN: Well, right now I’m concentrating on the tour, but before the tour started, like over the summer and last spring… damn it’s been a long time. You know there’s been a lot of ideas floating around and some of have become full songs. I have a bunch of songs in various states of undressed. I think once I get off tour, I’ll bear down and focus and start to pull the pieces together. I can’t wait to make a new record actually. I don’t know when it’s going to happen but I think we’ll start in January or February with tinkering around to see if we can get this record out a little faster.

NS: A few songs from the latest record have made it on to mainstream radio stations. These are really your first songs on mainstream radio. How does that make you feel?

MN: It’s pretty fun.

NS: Have you heard your songs on the radio yourself?

MN:I think I’ve heard them two or three times, I’ve caught either the middle of or the end of the song. It’s funny because, I just kind of counted out radio, I counted out VH1. I counted out all that stuff because, you know, six or seven records into a career and it hasn’t happened, you kind of feel like “Ok, I’ll just build this thing through touring, people spreading the word, through trading shows or telling friends.” So you kind of abandon the idea of radio playing your [expletive deleted]. So to be able to have the opportunity to play for radio stations and watch the influence that radio still has, like getting the people out to the shows, it’s pretty kick [expletive deleted]. It feels a little like cheating. Last night we played Des Moines and it was sold out. The night before we played Omaha and it was sold out. These are markets that I’ve been to, but not like Chicago or Boston or New York or San Fransisco or Austin. They are not cities I’ve been to a bunch and built a fan base. They are like cities I’ve been to a couple times. To be able to come to these places and have them sell out, it’s hard not to think radio has played a huge part in that. I’m just kind of enjoying these opportunities as they present themselves as opposed to me having to kick my way through to get them.

NS: What would you say to Northern Star readers who have never heard your music?

MN: It’ll change you. It’ll heal you. If you’re sick, it’ll heal. It’ll solve all your questions. You owe it to yourself to check out the rock ‘n roll to feel the kind of happiness that you’d only feel watching the music I make.

NS: Back in 2005, you talked to one of our writers [Collin Quick] prior to a show at the House of Blues when you played with Matt Wertz and Kate Earl. He mentioned you were really punctual and that you called at exactly 11 a.m. Guess what? You called at exactly 11 a.m. today as well. It looks like you’ve stayed just as punctual.

MN: That’s hilarious. What’s the most hilarious is that he keeps notes on the punctuality of the artist, that’s awesome. I would love to see the notes on someone who is a total [expletive deleted]. You’re like, ‘he already called, but what a [expletives deleted]. He was grumpy, he was swearing.’ That’s awesome, I love it.

NS: What are your favorite places to eat and do for fun nationwide?

MN: It’s fun to discover new stuff. Who knew there was this kick [expletive deleted] Vietnamese restaurant in Des Moines. I definitely did not give Des Moines that much credit. You underestimate Lawrence, Kansas and then you realize there’s tons of amazing stuff there. In a major city like Chicago, there’s always killer restaurants and you always have a lot of friends and people to take you out. When you come to places you’ve never been, it’s fun to have somebody point you in the right direction and have someone show you the stuff you might miss. Every city just has an amazing 24 hour cereal bar or like great sushi or a great guitar store. That’s the part that’s the most fun about being in a bus and being able to tour. It’s kind of like exploring the cities and finding places that you wouldn’t necessarily find through like Yelp.com.

NS: Last question – where are you right now and what’s around you?

MN: I’m in my bunk so I’ve got this weird like animal hair on the ceiling, it looks like a rug. I’m getting ready to do a radio show and I’m in Des Moines. We’re doing like a radio lounge type show and then we’re going to head out to Minneapolis. I also have a tiny Polaroid DVD player hanging in the bunk and Andy Taylor from Duran Duran’s autobiography next to me. That is the worst piece of [expletive deleted] that book. I’m struggling to get through it. It’s like the guy’s never written a cohesive sentence in his life, it’s hilarious.

NS: Thanks again for talking with us today.

MN: Thanks for doing this.